Manufacture of glass.



S. 0. RICHARDSON, JR. MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

APPLICATION rrnnn APR. 14, 1910.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

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WZ yZ7SflS SOLON O. RICHARDSON, JIL, OF TOLEDO, OHIO MANUFACTURE OF GLASS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911 Application filed April 14, 1910. Serial No. 555,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that. I. Simon 0. RICHARDSON,

Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at. Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Glass, of which the following is a specitication.

My invent-ionrelates to improvements in the nn'u'mtacturc of glass and particularly of those kinds, such as lead glass, which require handling in a closed pot or crucible in a glass furnace.

The ptltilfllltll object of my invention. is to provide a method for melting glass of this character so as to provide. a continuous sup ply of metal, having the requisite qualities. at the working opening of the furnace.

While, of course. my invention is adaptable for use regardless of whether the glass is worked by hand or by niarhincry and has the advantage of providing a continuous sn 'iply oi glass to the pot or pots when pots are used, whcrcbythe pots are kept continuonsly ata high temperature. instead of being alternately expanded by the heat oi" the furnace and cooled by a "Fresh supply ot batch, thereby shortening the lite ot the pots and requiring their frequent replm-cmcut, yet my invention is particularly uscl'ul in providing a continuous supply ot' glass at the working opening whcrc the glass is bc ing worked by nmchiucry which requires that the metal 'shall be maintained at a substantially uniform level adjacent to the working tiptlllllg. While the process, as has been demonstrated, is of particular value in making pot glass it may also be muploycd with some advantage in the making of glass in open .tauk turnaccs. In my prior Patent No. 756,409. granted April 5. 190-]. I sought to attain these ends by reducing the metal in a melting or reducing pot, which was supplied from time to time with small quantities of batch, so as not to appreciably affect the temperature of the pot, and from which a continuous.tlow to the working opening served to maintain the metal at the desired level, but, owing to various causes, some of which are not fully understood, but due in part, as I believe, to the fact that the batch,

being composed of elements of ditl'erent specific gravities, separated and did not melt uniformly and produce a homogeneous mixture, I found much difficulty. in obtaining a uniform quality of metal at the working i when a batch. for example for lead opening. sometimes getting satisfactory results and again getting wavy and cordy glass, althoughthe tenmcratures and fortunhe used were seemingly such as should have produced metal of a uniform quality at the working openin After much OXPPIlIlltlli, I have overcome these ditliculties by first rcdueing the hatch to a sutlicient extent to prevent ()bjtK'ilOIHllllt. mechanical separation of itsclemcnts in vessels irdm which there is no outflow during this prc'tusing operation, and then feeding it to a pot in the furnace from which there is a continuous flow to the working or plaining chamber and to the working opening of the furnace, the batch being completely reduced and plained by the time it reaches the working opening. This result may be brought. about either by losing the batch in a met'crably closed pot, from which there is no outflow during this step, which is thereupon emptied, by suitable mechanism, into t'hc receiving or reducing pot of the Furnace. from which there is a continuous How to the working chamber and to the working opening, the furnace, receiving or reducing pot, working chamber and working opening being arranged, it do sired. as shown in my said Patent No. TSILIUS). or preferably thc 't'uscd batch may be emptied from the melting pot and cooled and broken up, in any suitable manner, to term drygutc which is then fed into the receiving pot From tinnto time as required to maintain the desired level at the working opening. it this latter course is to he pursucd. I [ind the simplest way is to pour the 'nscd mctal into water. whereby itis broken up into relatively small irregular particles, forming a mass which can be readily handled. transported, shovclcd and ten into the receiving not of the furnace from time to time, as desired. The exact action which takes placc in the pot during this prcfusing is not fully understood, but certain it is that glass, compounded according to any usual or practical formula, whether with or without eul lot. is reduced in an open or closed pot, from which there is no outflow, the ingredients combine to form a homogeneous metal. In this prctusing step of my process, which in practice I continue for a period of twelve to fourteen hours at a temperature of 2300 to 2500 Fahrenheit, it. maybe that the separation ot the ingredients used to form the metal during the next step of the process is' revented by the fact that, when the resed. mass reaches the reducing chain er, from which there is a continuous outflow the prefusing has caused a mechanical union of the ingredientswhich prevents their mechanical separation during the succeeding steps, or it may be that the prefusing step has caused a more or less complete chemical union between the ingredients, ibut, as nearly as I can ascertain, my prefusi'ng step brings about both of these results to a reater or less degree; and certain it is that,

if the prefusing step in the pot, from which I there is no outflow, is continued for such a period, which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, there is a com plete mechanical. and chemical union of the ingredients, the prefused mass can be poured into the receiving chamber of the continuous furnace directly from the reducing or pre fusing pot without any intermediate cooling and the mass, when prefused in this manner, may be poured directly into an open tank of a continuous flow furnace, thus dispensing with the use of a receiving pot in the furnace in which the glass or metal final treatment.

In practice, the batch, which I have been using successfully with this process, is com posed in part of the ordinary raw materials for making lead glass and in part of cullet, that is, broken glass, and I have attained uniformly successful results by first partially fusing this batch into a mass of substantially the same specific gravity throughout, and'pouring it, while in a partially fused condition, into water, whereby it is broken into drygate and into conven ient form for shoveling into the reducing chamber or end of a continuous flow furnace.

By this arrangement I succeed in providing a continuous flow to the working opening of any kind of glass which requires handling in a closed pot at any stage, in maintaining a substantially uniform level at the working opening, and inproducing metal. of

a uniform, high quality free from all cordi-' ness and similar defects.

While the apparatus ofcmy Patent No. 756,409 may be conveniently used in the practicing of this process, I prefer to use the apparatus shown in the accompanying drawing which shows a longitudinal section through a pot furnace especially adapted for the continuous production of pot glass or crucible glass to be worked by machinery.

In said drawing, A indicates a glass furnace constructed in any usual manner and kept at the desired and usual temperature in any familiar manner, as, for example, by burning gases which fill the interior of the furnace and sufficiently surround the pots B and C to produce the desired metal and keep it a properly fluid condition. The pot, B s the receiving pot, into the feed receives its opening of which the partially fused batch is fed from time to time, the opening I) being preferablyclosed between each filling, 111 any familiar manner. The pot B is divided into What may conveniently be called a receiving chamber E and plaining chamber F by a partition G, through the bottom of which a passage 9 communicates with hotly of said chambers. .Adischarge spout 11' leads from the pot B to a receiving spout I of the pot C, the receivingspout I leading into the working chamber J in the pot G, in

which preferably a usual form of ring R of refractory material floats upon the metal, and the gathering mechanism of the glass working machine enters the pot C through the working opening L and collects the metal fromthe inside of the ring K.

The more or less completely fused batch or drygate, when received in the chamber E of the pot B, is reduced in said chamber, the unmelted parts of the batch, if any, for the most part, floating on the metal in the chamber E and the metal, which is ,partially plained in the chamber E, flows into the chamber F, whereit is further plained, the

partition G keeping out of the chamber F any unreduced elements which may be floating on the metal in the chamber E. The clear metal overflows through the spout H into the spout I, said spouts being supported and inclosed by refractory brick work M made, for example, of silica brick, and the clear metal ready for working flows into the pot C, from which it is gathered by the machine. By this arrangement not only is the entire process of reducing, plaining' and gathering the metal conducted in. closed pots, so that the metal is not at any stage exposed to the reducing gases, but the pot C also sufiiciently protects the, gathering mechanism from what might be the objectionable heating effect of the gases inside of the furnace. Ofcourse, where the metal is conducted to an open working chamber, the gathering mechanism may be protected by using a so-called boot leg, one form of which consists of a pot which is open at the bottom and has perforations in the side below the level of the metal, which is allowed to stand in the working tank with its neck fitted into the workin opening of the f'urbeing fed into the reducing chamber. In practice, 1 have found it desirable in tlns prellnnnary step, when manufacturing lead glass, to subject the batch to a temperature of 2300 to 2500 l ahrenheit, for a period of I twelve to fourteen hours, after which it may be poured directly into the reducing chamber from which the metal, when reduced, flows to the working chamber and working opening, or it may be cooled and broken up in any suitable way and shoveled into the reducing chamber fromtime to time. as required. Obviously however, the. batch could be fully reduced in this preliminary step, if desired, and, 'on the other hand, sufficient. fusing to accomplish the results indicated might be attained by a shorter exposure to a reducing temperature. So, also, while I have specially referred to my process as an improvement in the manufacture of lead glass, it will be understood that it is equally applicable to and desirable in the manufacture of any kind of glass which requires initial reduction in a closed pot or chamber as distinguished from glass, such as time glass, which may be initially reduced, without; injury to its quality, in an open tank furnace.

I claim:

I. The improvement in the art of manufacturing glass which con'iprisesfusing the batch, feeding the fused batch into a. closed melting chamber, reducing the batch in said chamber, and causing a contil'luous flow of metal from said chamber to the point where the metal is gathered for working.

.2. The improvement in the art of manufacturing glass, which comprises fusing the batch, feeding the same, when so fused, to a closed melting chamber, reducing the batch in said chamber, causing a flow of metal from said chamber to the point where the metal is gathered for working, and continuously feedlng additional quantities of fused batch into the melting chamber to replace the metal which is caused to flow from said chamber.

3. The improvement in the manufacture of glass, which comprises feeding fused batch into a zone of reducing tempcratm'e. causing the resulting metal to llow to a point where the metal is to be athered for working. all in a zone of suthcicntly high temperature to maintain the metal in a thud condition, and feeding mlditioual quantities of fused hatch to said zone of reducing temperature from time to time as may be required to maintain a substantially uniform level at the gathering point.

4-. The improvcnu-nt in the art of mannl'acturing lead glass, which comprises t'usiug the batch in a losed receptacle, from which there 13110 outllow during the process of fusing, feeding the fused batch into a. zone of reducingtemperature, causing the result- I ing metal to flow through a zone of snfiiciently high temperature to maintain the metal in a fluid condition to the point where the metal is to be gathered, and adding quantities of fused batch from time to time to said zone of reducing temperature so as to maintain a substantially uniform level at the point. where the metal is to be gathered for working. I

5. The improvement in the manufacture of lead glass, which comprises fusing the ,bateh in a closed reducing chan'iber from which there is no outtlow during the process of fusing, feeding the fused batch to a closed reducing chamber in a zone of reducing temperature, and causing the resulting metal to flow to a point where the metal is to be, gathered forworking through a zone of sutlicicntly high temptn'ature to maintain the metal in a fluid condition.

6. The improvement in'the manufacture of lead glass, which comprises fusing the batch in a closed reducing chamber from which there is no outtlow during the process of fusing, feeding the fused batch to a closed reducing chamber in a zone of reducing temperature, causing the resulting metal to flow to a point where the metal is to be gathetcd for working through a zone of sulliciently hi 'h temperature to maintain the metal in a thud conditioin aml feeding from time to time to said reducing chamber such quantities. of fusedbatch as may he necessary to maintain the metal at a substantially uniform level at. the point where it is to be gathered for working.

7. The improvemmit in the manufacture. of glass, which comprises fusing the batch in a closed reducing chamber from which there is no oultlow during the process of fusing, feeding the batch at frequent intervals to a closed receiving chamber in a zone of reducing temperature, thereby causing a substantially contimious outflow from said receiving chamber. comlucting the resulting metal through inclosed and connecting chambers and passages to the point where the metal is gathered for working, all in the presence of a temperature sutliciently high to keep the metal in a fluid condition and to permit of plaining the same, the entire process being carried on in a connected series of chambers and passages which are closed against access by the. burning gasesor other means used to produce said desired temperalures.

H. The imm'ovement in the art of glass nmnut'acture, which comprises prefpsing the glass ingredients in a receptacle from which there is no onttlow during such prefusing step, such prcfusing being continued to a point where the ingredients will not objectiouably separate in the next steps of the process, then feeding the fused mass into a zone of, reducing temperature and c'ausing the resulting metal to flow through said zone to the point of working.

9. The improvement in theart of glass manufacture, which comprises prefusing the glass ingredients in a chamber elosecl againstaoeess by the burning gases furnishing the fusing temperature, such fusing being clontinued to'a point where the ingredients will not objectionably separate in the next steps of the process, then feeding the fused mass 'into a zone of reducing temperature and causing the resulting metal to flow through said zone toward the point of Working at a rate of speed which permits the plaining of the metal between the oint of supply and 15 the point of ,Working, 13 e prefused ingredients being fed to the point of supply with sufiicient continuity to maintain a substan-- tially constant mass .ef fluid metal at the point of working to offset the consumption :30 of metal at the point of working.

SOLON 0. RICHARDSON; JR.

Witnesses JOHN H. WRIGHT, H. A. PEITER. 

